MedStar Health, a regional health system serving the Baltimore and Washington, DC, region, has chosen Doner as its AOR.
The network has brought on Doner for a branding campaign that will roll out next year. The agency will oversee strategy, creative, and production for the effort. MedStar conducted a nationwide search for a shop with the help of agency search management firm Bajkowski + Partners.
Doner’s work on the account began on June 1 with no planned end date, said Doner president and CEO David DeMuth. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed. MedStar previously worked with ab+c Creative Intelligence.
DeMuth said the firm and MedStar are beginning to develop the branding campaign, but added it will be a fully integrated push that will target consumers and employees of the health network.
“Particularly in healthcare, it’s important that it’s a campaign their people can really get behind and believe in,” he said. “The people deliver the brand promise and the campaign can align and galvanize the people, whether that’s a doctor, nurse, administrative, or orderly. It really adds power to the idea and feels authentic to the institution.”
MedStar operates 10 hospitals and more than 300 clinics and physician practices in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore region. The health system reported $5.5 billion in revenue and saw more than 4 million patients in 2017.
Doner’s other healthcare clients include systems such as Highmark Health in Pennsylvania, Beaumont Health in Michigan, and Summa Health in Ohio. DeMuth said the firm prides itself on developing campaigns that don’t look like traditional healthcare pushes.
“As an agency, we really love the healthcare business and have developed a bit of an expertise in terms of branding and differentiating health systems so they have a unique idea and unique identity in the marketplace,” he said. “There is a lot of healthcare advertising in the world, and a lot of it looks and sounds the same.”
